Kung Fu Love
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What if your loved one became the enemy of the world? What would you do? |
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Kung Fu Love: Even If You Become The Enemy Of The World is a 2006 Anime short film made by Studio 4°C. It was released as the third of four short films in the Amazing Nuts! collection.
It tells the story of high school student/kung fu master Hanako and her boyfriend Ichimonji, who one day suddenly find themselves on the run after Hanako is announced the enemy of the world. Pursued by the police as well as independent assassins, and still unsure how exactly any of this happened, Hanako and Ichimonji's feelings for each other are put to the test.
Originally planned as a series, but for various reasons cut down to a single 10 minute episode, Kung Fu Love still manages to be packed full of action, romance, laughs, gorgeous scenery and plot to make the mind boggle.
Tropes used in Kung Fu Love include:
- Action Girl: Hana shows off some impressive She Fu and breaks walls with her bare hands.
- Anime Theme Song: "Twinkle" by Kumi Koda.
- Butterfly of Death and Rebirth: Red and gold butterflies turn up quite often. There's also Hanako's cryptic remark about becoming a butterfly.
- Clear My Name
- Deadly Closing Credits: Although the final fight seems to be in her favour, the scene suddenly cuts to Hana's opponent strangling her just before punching her in the head as it cuts to black.
- Dragons Up the Yin-Yang: Hanako's hair is colored like a yin yang symbol, and she was born in the year of the dragon. So yeah.
- Generic Graffiti: Subversion. The city is covered in it, from billboards to floor chalk to stickers and tags; but it's usually got something to do with the plot.
- Genki Girl: Becoming the enemy of the world doesn't seem to get Hanako down at all. Ichimonji outright calls her 'genki' at one point.
- Gilligan Cut: After Ichimonji says there's no way he and Hanako are going to elope, it cuts to them sitting in a pig truck on the way to Shikoku.
- Girlish Pigtails: Hanako, mostly. She starts changing her hairstyles after becoming Enemy of the World.
- Close-Call Haircut: It gets shortened to a bob against her last opponent.
- Glasses Do Nothing: Ichimonji's tinted glasses seem to hang uselessly from his ears throughout.
- I Fell for Hours: When Hana decides to 'fly', the two of them fall about six stories and are still miles from hitting the ground when she gets her glider out.
- I Will Protect Her: "Even if you become the enemy of the world, I will be your ally!"
- Knuckle-Cracking: The final bounty hunter cracks each of his fingers in turn when calling Hana to Bring It.
- Making Love in All the Wrong Places: Ichimonji doesn't want to have sex on the beach in plain sight, so they do it in a boat instead.
- Manic Pixie Dream Girl: Definitely Hanako.
- Meet Cute: When Ichimonji opened a window Hanako was struggling with on the train. She fell in Love At First Sight.
- Mind Screw: The whole 'Enemy of the World' plot - it's never explained what Hanako supposedly did or why or how. Even she doesn't seem to know whether she's guilty or not.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Ichimonji finally has a change of heart about breaking up with Hana. However at that point he may be too late to save her.
- Panty Shot: Realistic and not particularly fanservicey, since Hana is doing all kinds of acrobatics.
- Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Hanako wears red and is pretty hyperactive, whereas Ichimonji wears blue/green and is more laid back.
- Scenery Porn: Some absolutely gorgeous detailed shots of urban Tokyo and Kyoto too.
- Shout-Out: To the "What-If" box from Doraemon.
- Sickeningly Sweethearts: Hanako and her 'Darling' of course.
- Stripperiffic: One of the bounty hunters (posing as a stripper) fights wearing nothing but high heels, panties, nipple tassels and a fish-shaped hat.
- Torches and Pitchforks: Sort of. Their fellow students attempt to push Hanako and Ichimonji off a roof wielding brooms and mops.
- Understanding Boyfriend: Ichimonji is baffled by the situation, but sticks with Hana anyway. Even he has his limit though.
- Unlimited Wardrobe: Hana appears in a different outfit for each of her fight scenes. Averted by Ichimonji, who always wears his school uniform.
- Weather Dissonance: One of Hanako's attacks is powerful enough to create a butterfly-shaped cloud that can be seen from space.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: The robot with a head like a video camera that was spying on Hanako and Ichimonji only appears for one scene.